Even when they weren’t playing particularly well in the second half, the Arizona Wildcats never were in danger of losing Saturday night. So why was UA coach Rich Rodriguez so infuriated?
Part of it had to do with the Wildcats’ malaise; Arizona led Hawaii by 30 points early in the third quarter, so the intensity level at Arizona Stadium understandably dropped. Most of it had to do with penalties.
The Wildcats were flagged for 11 infractions totaling 105 yards. That matched their total from the first two games. Arizona hadn’t reached double figures in penalties in 46 games.
“The penalties were really embarrassing. We have to fix that,” Rodriguez said.
“There’s no excuse. None. Zero. I thought we played undisciplined.”
Of Arizona’s 11 penalties, four were personal fouls and one was for unsportsmanlike conduct. The Wildcats incurred two personal-foul penalties in the fourth quarter along their sideline — and in close proximity to their incensed head coach.
The first was particularly egregious: Overly exuberant freshman safety Tristan Cooper threw Rainbow Warriors quarterback Dru Brown to the ground when he already was out of bounds.
When a reporter suggested that Rodriguez “probably” wasn’t happy with Cooper’s infraction, Rodriguez immediately offered a correction.
“Not probably,” he said. “He’s a freshman, but there ain’t no probably to that. There ain’t no probably to those 15-yard penalties.”
Cooper — who had a team-high eight tackles and two pass breakups in his first career start — knew he messed up.
“That was all on me,” Cooper said. “My head wasn’t there. I got a little mad. I shouldn’t have done it.”
Another freshman defensive back, Isaiah Hayes, was guilty of the other fourth-quarter personal foul. Hayes hit Hawaii’s Dylan Collie when he was about a step out of bounds.
None of the penalties had any serious consequences in terms of the outcome of the game. But Rodriguez knows Arizona can’t afford to be so careless against superior competition, starting with No. 9 Washington in the Pac-12 opener this upcoming Saturday.
“You get really frustrated when you’re not stopping anybody and then you throw somebody out of bounds,” Rodriguez said. “Our guys are conscientious enough. They’ll learn from it.”
Dawkins or Solomon?
Rodriguez was noncommittal about the quarterback situation after the game.
Brandon Dawkins, in his second career start, had his best career game, completing 76.2 percent of his passes, rushing for 118 yards and accounting for four touchdowns.
Week 1 starter Anu Solomon did not dress for the second consecutive game. Solomon suffered a knee injury during practice on Sept. 7. His availability for the Washington game is unclear.
“Anu’s a really good player when he’s healthy,” Rodriguez said. “I’m hoping he’s healthy so we have two starting quarterbacks.”
Arizona is 2-0 when Dawkins starts. He has yet to throw an interception.
The Wildcats are 0-1 when Solomon starts. He threw two picks in his lone appearance, albeit against tougher competition.
Injuries accumulating
With conference play about to begin, injuries are starting to pile up for the Wildcats.
Several players got hurt during the game or were unavailable Saturday night, including tailback Nick Wilson, who exited in the first quarter with an injured left ankle or foot.
Others believed to be hurt to some extent include guard Jacob Alsadek, tackle Gerhard de Beer, nose tackle Parker Zellers, linebacker DeAndre’ Miller and cornerback Dane Cruikshank.
“Every time I turned around, there’s four or five guys injured, four or five guys in there that had to play different roles,” Rodriguez said. “It was like a MASH unit.
“We had all kinds of guys rolling in and out, especially on defense. It was crazy.
“We stayed healthy during camp. Not quite as healthy now. But that’s football.”
Safety Tellas Jones, who missed the past two games because of an ankle injury, could return against the Huskies. Jones dressed and participated in pregame warmups Saturday.
Extra points
- Senior receiver Nate Phillips, who caught three passes for 35 yards, has at least one reception in 36 straight games, tied for the fifth-longest active streak in the nation.
- J.J. Taylor’s 168 rushing yards were the most by an Arizona freshman since Wilson had 178 against Arizona State in the 2014 regular-season finale.
- Saturday’s victory was the 600th in UA program history. The Wildcats are 600-444-33 all time.
